Liberia

Priority Issues

Children’s Rights

Transparency and Anti-Corruption

Labor and Environmental Rights

Justice and Rule of Law

Women’s rights

LGBTI rights

Began Program: 2003

By 2003, almost fourteen years of civil war had claimed the lives of over 200,000 people and displaced a third of Liberia’s population. Women were often the targets of brutality as rape was used to control populations. The country’s infrastructure was decimated and many activists were forced into exile.

The Fund arrived in Liberia that year, as the war was coming to a close. We started small, negotiating a volatile situation to deliver resources to a handful of human rights groups. As the security situation improved, our program helped an emergent movement ensure that human rights would be central to the country’s new foundation.

“By working with and through grassroots organizations, the Fund has reached out to almost every facet of the Liberian population. In building our capacity, the Fund has sharpened our focus and increased our technical skills in strategic planning, project implementation, and reporting.”

Roseline Richards, National Institute for Public Opinion, Liberia

Our Strategy

In the past ten years, Liberian human rights organizations have built their work from the ground up. We strengthen these efforts throughout the country, including in isolated communities that suffered terribly during the civil war. Specifically, we’re focused on enabling communities to challenge exploitative extractive industry practices and monitor government spending to guard against diversion of public funds necessary to rebuild infrastructure and provide for society’s basic needs. We’re supporting women’s rights advocates to improve the police’s response to gender-based violence, document assault and rape cases, and provide psychosocial and legal support to victims.